


Starry Night

by Multishipperlove



Series: Tumblr Prompts [3]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Xhorhouse (Critical Role), hints at beau/jester, not explicit, other mighty nein members mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:20:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22559299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multishipperlove/pseuds/Multishipperlove
Summary: Caduceus has a talk with Jester after a hard day.
Relationships: Caduceus Clay & Jester Lavorre
Series: Tumblr Prompts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623151
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	Starry Night

**Author's Note:**

> Original Prompt:  
> iiiffff you're still interested in more prompts “Will you carry me to bed?” with Caduceus and any of the mighty nein (I can't decide but maybe Jester or Fjord after a fight?), Platonically
> 
> From this list: [Sleepy/Cozy Prompts 💤✨](https://blissfulparker.tumblr.com/post/189637902863/sleepycozy-prompts)

They all arrived back at the Xhorhaus absolutely exhausted. Killing an entire wyvern nest that had started to take root in one of the towers of the Lucid Bastion? Not as easy as you’d think. And honestly, why would you think it was easy in the first place.

Needless to say, it had taken them some time to even get close to the encounter, and especially Yasha and Beau had struggled with their preference for melee fighting. But with some smart use of polymorph and more spellcasting than what would have been strictly necessary, they had eventually managed to drive the pesky beasts out. Killing most of them, really.

It had been worth it at least, they were one favor and a decent amount of platinum richer than they had been this morning. So as soon as they walked inside the house, everyone just collapsed into a pile in the living room, tired but satisfied.

Caduceus, somehow as serene as always and seeming not quite as harrowed as his friends, managed to throw some food and drink together and had them all in higher spirits again in but half an hour. And through their chatter and laughter, it was barely noticed that Jester was a lot more quiet than usual.

It wasn’t surprising, she had pulled every trick in the book during the fight, keeping her friends up left and right with Caduceus’ help, and diving after people more than once when someone had once more managed to stumble off the damn roof.

She defintiely wasn’t unhappy, Caduceus made sure to keep a bit of an eye on her. Just tired, and she spend most of the evening leaning against Beau. So the firbolg assured himself that she was fine, and would hopefully be back to her bubbly self after getting some sleep.

Most of the others seemed to have the same in mind for themselves as well. One after the other they eventually bid each other good night, disappearing upstairs and into their own rooms. It didn’t take long until Beau, Jester, and Caduceus were the last ones left.

“Alright, I think I’m gonna head to bed as well,” Beau finally stated, before gently nudging Jester with the shoulder she was still resting against. “You coming too, Jesse? You look like you could use an early night.”

To Cad’s surprise, she didn’t agree immediately. He’d kind of suspected that the only reason she was still down here had been Beau, and that she’d just been waiting for her friend to turn in so she could take her leave as well. They did share a room, after all.

But Jester shook her head slightly, sitting up properly again and giving Beau a tired smile. “No, I think I will stay a bit longer. I’ll be quiet when I come in though, promise.”

“Nah, don’t worry, you probably won’t wake me up anyway,” Beau assured her, and then stayed quiet for an awkward moment before getting up. It almost seemed like she’d wanted to say something else, but for some reason didn’t. “Well, alright,” she mumbled, giving them both a wave. “I’ll be upstairs then. Sleep well.”

“You too,” Caduceus replied with a nod, and then watched as she disappeared as well. He was about to stack their plates and head off to the kitchen (washing up could wait until tomorrow, but he didn’t want to leave the room in complete chaos) when Jester got his attention.

“Hey, Caduceus?”

He turned to face her again, curious what had made her so soft spoken all of a sudden. “Hm?”

“Do you want to sit under the tree for a bit?” she asked, sounding almost hopeful. “Just, you know, look at the stars a bit.”

“Huh. Are there even stars?” he asked. “I don’t know what time it is, we probably should have checked in with Caleb about that at some point.” In their defence, they had been in Xhorhas for a while. Day- and nighttime tended to get wonky.

But, right, not what she’d been asking. He quickly continued, realizing he hadn’t actually given her an answer. “But sure, I would love to sit under the tree with you. Stars or not, it is a rather nice space.”

The smile he got in return was nice to see as well, and together they made their way up the stairs and to the small balcony that hosted their huge trade mark sign. At least in this neighbourhood. The enchanted lightybulbs were still illuminating the tree beautifully, and Caduceus felt himself immediately relax as the scent of damp earth and moss wafted over.

Jester seemed to react similarly to the tree, though the first thing she did was walk up close to it and let Sprinkle scurry up the branches. The weasel easily found a place to curl up, and quickly seemed to fall asleep itself.

As Caduceus settled down between the roots, leaning back against the thick trunk of the tree behind him, Jester joined him. She leaned against him this time, and they both stared out at the never changing night sky, easily finding the stars Jester had spoken of eariler. It was good to know that they had apparently not lost their feeling of time completely yet.

It was quiet. Nice. Caduceus knew that a calm moment with Jester was rare, but that made him appreciate it even more, seeing as she seemed more vulnerable in these moments than she usually let on. He would never do anything to betray that kind of trust.

“Caduceus?” she finally asked, her voice still quiet.

“Yes?”

“Today kinda sucked.”

“Hm. It did, didn’t it,” he mumbled, still looking out at the stars. It didn’t seem like the kind of conversation where you wanted to look at the other person. “We were successful, though. Is that not worth something?”

“Well, sure, but some moments up there really scared me,” she admitted. “I don’t want to loose anyone, not even for a million favors from the Birght Queen. I think you are all worth more than that.”

“That’s nice,” he replied softly. “And I am sure everyone would agree that you are worth more than a million favors from the Bright Queen as well.”

“Even more than all the platinum?”

“All the platinum in the world couldn’t replace your friendship, my dear.”

He felt her sigh softly, and press a bit closer to him, and there might have even been a quiet sniffle. But he didn’t comment on it, instead letting her think about it for a while. Sometimes, processing new information took time, and some privacy. Even if all the privacy she got was both of them keeping their eyes on the incredibly vastness of the universe in front of them.

Finally, she spoke up again, and the small hint of tears was gone from her voice. Once more, she was just tired, and this time it seemed more akin to the content he’d felt from the others earlier.

“Hey, Caduceus?”

“Hm?

“Will you carry me to bed?”

He chuckled softly, finally turning his head to look at her. She was smiling again, and wasn’t that a beautiful sight.

“I think I can do that,” he agreed, right before scooping her up as easily as he would a sack of potatos, and getting a delighted giggle in return. He was supporting her back and legs with his arms, holding her close to his chest, and she managed to tuck her head under his chin in a way that kept the horns out of the way.

By the time he placed her down on her bed, carful not to wake up Beau in the process, she was fast asleep.


End file.
